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Nov 22, 2016

While I look forward to visiting Bangalore's annual art festival on the street, the Chitra Santhe in Jan of 2017, thought I should share some of the pictures from this year's. Almost a year past, sigh.

Rightly known as "a Kumbh Mela of art lovers", this sea of mostly original artwork is an amalgamation of artists, well known and little known, newbies and some established ones, average and stellar, those with tiny canvases to mighty ones.

The Santhe is held just once a year. Kumara Krupa Road is blocked for traffic on the day, and let open for artists to set up shop for the day. The green cover in this part of the city is enviable, and makes for a splendid locale for this art fete.

I managed to elbow my way through into some of the tiny stalls and chat up with some of the artists... refreshing! And it is meant to be all in a day's work... 12 hours (all of 12 hours!) is never enough to see the whole exhibition, leave alone engage in conversations with the artists. Nevertheless it is a treat for art lovers, or even simply someone looking to decorate a wall in their home.

Here are some of the frames I caught early this year (why didn't I post these earlier - God knows why)...

Be sure to visit the Santhe if you are in Bangalore on Jan 15th (2017).

This is no atmosphere like an elegant, elitist art museum or gallery.

It is in fact a glorious riot of colors and craftsmanship you just cannot miss, a celebration of the lesser known artists across the country.